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You've all experienced this, I'm sure: You're writing a sentence and must halt midway through because the exactly-right word eludes you.
And you know the word exists, you know exactly what nuances you want to imply with it -- maybe you can even recall what letter it begins with -- but your brain simply cannot excavate that one perfect word out of long-term storage.
It occurred to me this phenomenon could be used as both a resource thread and a bit of a game. The person stuck for a word can try to describe what they're looking for, and the rest of us can try to come up with it. Like doing crossword puzzles, the act of guessing should help us all improve our ability to find the exactly-right word.
For a person who needs to think of a word, the format can be something like this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What's This Word?
The state of grasping for something, but with positive connotations. Hungrily working toward a goal. Starts with a vowel sound, I'm pretty sure an "a".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Answerers should then quote the querier's post and jot down their best guesses for the perfect word.
The querier can clarify the nuances they're looking for if the guesses aren't capturing the word they want.
Also, feel free to post a set of word-clues just for fun! As I said, this thread can be part resource, part game.
This thread is brought to you by an agonizing four minute mental gong-show of trying to remember the word "ambitious".
And you know the word exists, you know exactly what nuances you want to imply with it -- maybe you can even recall what letter it begins with -- but your brain simply cannot excavate that one perfect word out of long-term storage.
It occurred to me this phenomenon could be used as both a resource thread and a bit of a game. The person stuck for a word can try to describe what they're looking for, and the rest of us can try to come up with it. Like doing crossword puzzles, the act of guessing should help us all improve our ability to find the exactly-right word.
For a person who needs to think of a word, the format can be something like this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What's This Word?
The state of grasping for something, but with positive connotations. Hungrily working toward a goal. Starts with a vowel sound, I'm pretty sure an "a".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Answerers should then quote the querier's post and jot down their best guesses for the perfect word.
The querier can clarify the nuances they're looking for if the guesses aren't capturing the word they want.
Also, feel free to post a set of word-clues just for fun! As I said, this thread can be part resource, part game.
This thread is brought to you by an agonizing four minute mental gong-show of trying to remember the word "ambitious".
